Archive

On 23 August, constitutional amendments were implemented in Juclandia. The official name of the country was changed from the “Kingdom of Juclandia” to simply “Juclandia”, and the monarchy has become elected, with the King from henceforth to be elected every eight years.

MOLOSSIA

On 13 August, President Kevin Baugh officially dedicated the Molossian Friendship Gateway, a monument dedicated to inclusiveness and openness which has been under construction since January, funded by volunteers purchasing bricks with which to build it.

SEBORGA

On 20 August, Prince Marcello I was formally invested as Prince after being re-elected in April. The ceremony followed a religious procession, and the day finished with food and dancing.

USKOR

On 26 August, the Uskorian legislature voted to grant President Charlotte Lindstrom the title High Queen of Uskor. It is understood that this most recent incarnation of the Uskorian monarchy – Lindstrom having previously been a monarch under several different titles and regnal names – will be primarily a ceremonial and cultural institution.

On 4 April, the Principality of Campinia was officially dissolved by Prince Elias after discovering that the head of government, Shady Morsi, had been planning to depose him. Morsi, appointed head of government in August last year, had swiftly placed most state institutions under his own control. Morsi has not contested the dissolution of the nation, and Elias has joined the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis to work in heraldry.

FLORENIA

On 23 April, Florenia celebrated six years since its official date of foundation in 2011.

On 10 April, the First Family’s pet Boston Terrier, Annie, passed away from heart failure at the age of eleven. She was buried with honours in the Molossia Cemetary, and Emperor Jonathan I sent his condolences to President Baugh.

SABIA AND VERONA

On 20 April, King Tarik of Sabia and Verona announced that he would soon promulgate a new constitution for the country, comprised of 104 articles concerning state institutions and the like, including relations between the kingdom’s human population and its famous plush toy “citizens”.

SANDUS

On 28 April, Sôgmô Gaius Soergel decreed the creation of a ceremonial Sandum nobility based loosely on that of the Russian Empire.

USKOR

On 11 April a referendum took place resulting in Chairwoman Charlotte Lindstrom extending her term of office for a year and announcing that the legislative People’s Assembly would no longer meet. No details were released of the referendum’s turnout or vote results.

On 9 February, Florenia expanded for the first time in its nearly six-year history. King Eran I annexed his personal residence – which until now had been in the United States of America – as the Dominion of Lexington. Afula, which prior to this was Florenia’s only land claim, remains the nation’s capital.

LANDASHIR

On 10 February, James von Puchow as Chief Minister of Landashir released a declaration ceding Landashir’s final land claim – a residential property now in the UK – and having it assume the status of a non-territorial nation as opposed to a nation-state. From now on, Landashir’s government “shall operate as a general council of all registered Landashir’n nationals.”

Princess Hannah celebrated her 21st birthday on 27 February with a meal and drinks out with her fiancé Emperor Jonathan I and several friends from the University of Chester.

ZEALANDIA/USKOR

Zealandia, while well-known for its frequent changes of governmental system, has always retained its actual name; that is, until now. The country has changed its name to Uskor after the results of a referendum were announced on 24 February. Charlotte Lindstrom, founder of the nation and its paramount leader throughout its history, was sworn in as Chairwoman of Uskor on 27 February.

On 4 November, Flandrensis announced its withdrawal from the Antarctic Micronational Union, an organisation it founded in 2008 which has been hugely successful in regulating the territorial claims by various small countries and micronations to land in Antarctica. Grand Duke Niels I explained his decision by stating the AMU had “almost no interest in the ecological problems of today”. However, AMU Administrative-General Yaroslav Mar disputed this, publishing an e-mail in which he had offered the Grand Duke the chance to draft a new, more ecologically-focused charter for the organisation.

FLORENIA

On 25 November, King Eran – who had previously held a ceremonial role – published a declaration in which he suspended Parliament and instituted temporary personal rule, instructing his son Prince Nathan, the Prime Minister, to draw up plans for reform. This comes after several months of apparent inactivity in the Florenian government.

LADONIA

On 24 November, an arson attack burnt down the Tower of the Winds, a quarter of the sculpture “Nimis”, one of two over which Ladonia declared independence from Sweden due to planning permission disputes. There have been no claims to responsibility for the attack. Queen Carolyn I promised that “Nimis will be repaired, and grow to be even larger than before… rising like a Phoenix from the ashes.”

MOLOSSIA

On 27 November, Molossia unveiled a Little Free Library on its north-western border with the US, full of books to be swapped for free by passing readers in Molossia and in the United States.

RUDNO

On 13 November, Rudno adopted a new theocratic constitution, declaring that it would have no King but Jesus Christ, and renaming the office of Ambict, head of government, to Steward.

ZEALANDIA

On 12 November, the State Bank of Zealandia announced the creation of a new Zealandian currency, the Credit, pegged to equal value with the Australian dollar.

On 23 November, Chairwoman Charlotte Lindstrom signed into a law guaranteeing the right of Zealandians to practice “the magickal arts” so long as such are not inconsistent with the law or “good proletarian morals”.

On 5 October, a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies relocated the capital from Lavrada to Colo, established a Confederal Bank of Delvera, and set up a wage system for government employees.

KUMANO JIRITSU

On 16 October, Hatsu Aki was sworn in as the new head of state after the resignation of his father in July. The title of the head of state, Daitōryō Daimyō, can be translated as “President-Noble” or “President-Lord”.

MOLOSSIA

On 29 October, President Kevin Baugh and the Molossian First Family took part in the annual Nevada Day Parade in Carson City for the tenth time. The President met with various Nevadan dignitaries, including the governor and several congressional candidates, most of whom were found to be already aware of Molossia.

SABIA AND VERONA

On 20 October, Sabia and Verona celebrated four years since its foundation. King Tarik released a statement celebrating the stability of the kingdom.

SANDUS

On 19 October, Sôgmô Will Soergel celebrated the Sandum holiday of Armilustrium by publishing a playlist on Spotify and conducting a religious ritual.

On 26 October, the Sôgmô announced a meeting of the Citizen’s Party of Sandus to formulate an official platform for the party, a goal which had previously been intended to have been reached by May earlier this year.

WILDFLOWER MEADOWS

On 14 October, the Principality of Wildflower Meadows annexed Grosvenor Park, an ornamental Victorian park in the British city of Chester, located directly between the Principality’s existing claims of Chester Meadows and the walled city itself.

ZEALANDIA

On 26 October, Claire Nymoria was appointed the new Prime Minister of Zealandia by leader Charlotte Lindstrom.

The Rt Hon. Sir Hugh McFarlane, KCA; the new Governing Commissioner of New South Scotland.

The Counsellors of State have signed a treaty with the Commonwealth of Zealandia restoring Austenasian government to New South Scotland (NSS).

Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy and King Adam I – who were appointed Counsellors of State by the Emperor on 31 August with authority to jointly exercise the powers of the Throne – signed a treaty with Zealandian politician Claire Nymoria, who had been authorised to sign on behalf of the Zealandian government.

Since June 2014, New South Scotland – a Crown Dependency of Austenasia – has, while remaining de jure under Austenasian sovereignty, been governed by Zealandia. This arrangement was agreed upon after instability in the nearby nation resulted in aggressive colonial designs on NSS by Zealandia.

New South Scotland is an enclave of the University of New South Wales, which was attended by Zealandian leader Charlotte Lindstrom and much of the Zealandian government and military. With most of the Zealandians having left the university at the start of summer, Lindstrom informed the imperial government that she would be unable to continue to administer NSS.

Under the terms of the treaty, Zealandia has surrendered any and all claims to NSS and recognised the absolute right of the Austenasian Throne to its governance.

The agreement reached in June 2014 made the Zealandian head of state ex officio Governing Commissioner of the Crown Dependency. Yesterday’s treaty, however, annulled this provision, and Emperor Jonathan I replaced Lindstrom as Governing Commissioner with Sir Hugh McFarlane, the Empire’s Consul-General at Sydney and a friend of the Emperor who lives near to NSS and who visited it as a tourist last year.

This is the first instalment of a new monthly feature for the Austenasian Times: MicroWorld Newsbites, in which a look will be taken at news stories from around the world of small nations, which are unlikely to be covered by major news networks.

COPAN

The fence around the Playing Field – part of which formed Copan’s international boundary with the United Kingdom and with the Grove – has been removed by Sutton Parks Service.

FLANDRENSIS

The Flandrensisian Commonwealth, a diplomatic partnership between Flandrensis, Arkel and Campinia, was dissolved earlier today. The three members of the Commonwealth – which was founded in October 2010 – all claim territory in Antarctica but have populations based in Belgium and the Netherlands. Due to its members sharing a diplomatic policy, a treaty signed in January 2013 by the Empire to formalise its by then four year old friendship with Flandrensis resulted in diplomatic relations being formed with Arkel and Campinia as well. The three nations remain on good terms, but according to Grand Duke Niels of Flandrensis, a renewed focus on environmental matters and a more global diplomatic outlook made the Commonwealth redundant.

George De Feyter, Minister of Antarctic Environment, has announced “an ambitious programme which aims at alerting all the countries in the world about the dangers of pollution and damaging Antarctica”. A letter will be sent each week to another government, starting with the top ten most polluting countries in the world.

On 16 April, Molossia celebrated Obscura Day, a worldwide celebration of unique places. A group of sixteen visitors was given a tour of the nation by the President, First Lady, and Chief Constable.

VIKESLAND

A change of government structure in Vikesland is being discussed, with more power planned to be transferred to King Christopher to enable more efficient governance.

ZEALANDIA

Between 11 and 13 April, the former Queen Astrid of Zealandia (also known as Anna Lindstrom) launched a self-coup against her own government, replacing the monarchy with a communist state council of which she is now chairwoman as Charlotte Lindstrom. Known for its instability, Zealandia’s latest revolution has been criticised by other governments. Diplomatic negotiations to update the treaty between Austenasia and Zealandia concerning New South Scotland – of which the monarch of Zealandia was made ex officio governing commissioner – are currently underway.